One to One Dog Training or Group Dog Training Classes?
Emma Badger 
Should you take your dog to group training classes or will private training be better?
PRIVATE ONE-TO-ONE TRAINING SESSIONS OR GROUP TRAINING CLASSES, WHICH ONE IS BEST FOR YOUR PUP?
There are a few things to consider here.
YOUR DOG'S AGE
Very young puppies may not be fully immune and therefore might benefit from a one-to-one puppy consultation before joining group puppy classes.
The On Cloud K9 group puppy classes are suitable for puppies from 10 weeks to 6 months of age. The sooner you start training your puppy, the better, as you'll prevent bad habits.
The adolescent group training classes are suitable for dogs from 4 months to 18 months, again, the younger the dog is, the more effective the training will be as you'll be learning a lot about how to prevent your dog from practising unwanted behaviour which will then become a bad habit.
If your dog is older, you'll often be considering dog training because your dog has a specific issue, which may not be addressed in the course curriculum. One-to-one dog training would be more suitable in this case.
YOUR DOG'S PERSONALITY
Would your dog learn in a group environment? Puppies and dogs that are either anxious or overly excitable will not do well in a group environment. In this case, you should consider one-to-one dog training
THE DOG TRAINING CLASSES
No training at all is better than a badly run dog training class.
The number of puppies or dogs in each group training class should be limited to ensure that each dog gets space away from the other dogs and that each owner gets the attention of the dog trainer.
The instructor should be able to ensure the safety of the dogs and the people in the training session. Good dog trainers will be able to adapt to your style of learning and will provide you with information that will allow you to continue training your dog in between training sessions, such as printed handouts, PDFs or videos.
The instructor should be qualified or accredited with a recognised canine education provider and should be continually educating themselves to ensure that they are familiar with the most up-to-date research and science.
You should be encouraged to use positive reinforcement as the main method of training your dog. In simple terms, this means that you reward your dog with something that they like when they do something that you like. Aversive punishment will have a negative effect on your relationship with your dog. If your dog trainer is advising you to punish your dog using force or pain, then they do not understand the science of dog training, or how dogs learn better through reinforcement than they do through punishment.
If you're not sure what kind of training you and your dog need, please feel free to get in touch by calling 07527450289.
Categories: Dog Training Tips, Puppy Training Tips